value="http://www.youtube.com/v/QDqskltCixA&hl=en_US&fs=1&border=1">The Earth is formed by accretion of spatial particulates and large masses and eventually formes an outer crust. Video follows with speculation of early plates and land masses and their movement through time. **Clip taken from National Geographics**

Barisan 1 Property – Detailed historic exploration data for the Abong sediment-hosted goldprospect, previously worked by North Limited and Rio Tinto, has been purchased and reviewed. In addition to East Asia results, the historic data identifies five mineralized zones. The best of these is the Sarah zone, with historic channel sample results including 16.0 metres of 3.84 g/t gold, 20.0 metres of 2.04 g/t gold, and 16.0 metres of 3.68 g/t gold. At the Narara 1 prospect, historic grab samples are reported with “bonanza” epithermal gold grades, some with visible gold in hand specimen. These include 16.87g/t gold, 129.0g/t gold, 22.6g/t gold, 21.5g/t gold and 54.9g/t gold.

Preliminary rock chip sampling by East Asia has encountered grades as high as 3.52 g/t gold and 29.0 g/t silver (August 30, 2007 news release). Review of the historic data supports the previous East Asia observations that the limited past drilling did not properly test the gold anomalous surface samples. This appears to be due to the limited understanding of the structural controls to the surface mineralization (i.e. testing high grade zone away frommapped feeder structures), and the program being terminated prematurely in 1998 due to non-technical reasons.

Miwah Project

At the Miwah epithermal gold-copper Project, previously worked by Highlands Gold, ninety-onerock channel and grab samples were collected by East Asia from a vuggy silica and massive silica–alunite-clay breccia. Results include 6.0 metres of 3.63 g/t gold, 6.5 metres of 2.66 g/t gold, 30.0 metres of 1.12g/t gold, and 12.0 metres of 1.33g/t gold. The breccia zone hosting these gold rich samples is 600 metres by 250 metres in extent, and is essentially untested by drilling (three shallow holes at the south extreme). Elsewhere on the property ongoingexploration is focused on improving the definition of higher grade gold in structures that are perpendicular to the historic drilling where grades outside the structures include 71.0 metres at 1.4 g/t gold and 58.0 metres at 1.1 g/t.

More than 420 million oz of gold were concentrated in circum-Pacific synorogenic quartz lodes mainly during two periods of continental growth, one along the Gondwanan margin in the Palaeozoic and the other in the northern Pacific basin between 170 and 50 Ma. These ores have many features in common and can be grouped into a single type of lode gold deposit widespread throughout clastic sedimentary-rock dominant terranes. The auriferous veins contain only a few percent sulphide minerals, have gold:silver ratios typically greater than 1:1, show a distinct association with medium grade metamorphic rocks, and may be associated with large-scale fault zones. Ore fluids are consistently of low salinity and are CO2-rich.

In the early and middle Palaeozoic in the southern Pacific basin, a single immense turbidite sequence was added to the eastern margin of Gondwanaland. Deformation of these rocks in southeastern Australia was accompanied by deposition of at least 80 million oz of gold in the Victorian sector of the Lachlan fold belt mainly during the Middle and Late Devonian.Lesser Devonian gold accumulations characterized the more northerly parts of the Gondwanan margin within the Hodgkinson–Broken River and Thomson fold belts. Additional lodes were emplaced in this flyschoid sequence in Devonian or earlier Palaeozoic times in what is now the Buller terrane, Westland, New Zealand. Minor post-Devonian growth of Gondwanaland included terrane collision and formation of gold-bearing veins in the Permian in Australia’s New Englandfold belt and in the Jurassic-Early Cretaceous in New Zealand’s Otago schists.

The Batu Hijau deposit,9l4 million tonnes at an average grade of 0.53 percent copper and 0.40 g/tgold, lies within a 12 by 6 km district that contains several mineralizedd centers. The oldest rocks exposed consist of an Early to Middle Miocene andesitic volcaniclastic succession.This is sequence has been cut by several phase of intermediate o felsic intrusion, Middlle Miocene to the mid-Pliocene in age. and a late andesitic diatreme and dike complex. The volcaniclastic rocks and intrusion in the district, typically of low K, calc-alkaline affinity, form part of the Sunda-Banda magmatic arc, which is underlain by occeanic crust near Sumbawa.

Iron Ore: About 98% of iron ore is used to make steel - one of the greatest inventions and most useful materials ever created. While the other uses for iron ore and iron are only a very small amount of the consumption, they provide excellent examples of the ingenuity and the multitude of uses that man can create from our natural resources. Powdered iron: used in metallurgy products, magnets, high-frequency cores, auto parts, catalyst. Radioactive iron (iron 59): in medicine, tracer element in biochemical and metallurgical research. Iron blue: in paints, printing inks, plastics, cosmetics (eye shadow), artist colors, laundry blue, paper dyeing, fertilizer ingredient, baked enamel finishes for autos and appliances, industrial finishes. Black iron oxide: as pigment, in polishing compounds, metallurgy, medicine, magnetic inks, in ferrites for electronics industry. Major producers of iron ore include Australia, Brazil, China, Russia, and India.

Magnetite -------------- Hematite

Goethite------------------ Limonite

BackgroundIron (Fe) is a metallic element and composes about 5% of the Earth’s crust. When pure it is a dark, silvery-gray metal. It is a very reactive element and oxidizes (rusts) very easily. The reds, oranges and yellows seen in some soils and on rocks are probably iron oxides. The inner core of the Earth is believed to be a solid iron-nickel alloy. Iron-nickel meteorites are believed to represent the earliest material formed at the beginning of the universe. Studies show that there is considerable iron in the stars and terrestrial planets: Mars, the "Red Planet," is red due to the iron oxides in its crust.

Iron is one of the three naturally magnetic elements; the others are cobalt and nickel. Iron is the most magnetic of the three. The mineral magnetite (Fe3O4) is a naturally occurring metallic mineral that is occasionally found in sufficient quantities to be an ore of iron.The principle ores of iron are Hematite, (70% iron) and Magnetite, (72 % iron). Taconite is a low-grade iron ore, containing up to 30% Magnetite and Hematite.Hematite is iron oxide (Fe2O3). The amount of hematite needed in any deposit to make it profitable to mine must be in the tens of millions of tons. Hematite deposits are mostly sedimentary in origin, such as the banded iron formations (BIFs). BIFs consist of alternating layers of chert (a variety of the mineral quartz), hematite and magnetite. They are found throughout the world and are the most important iron ore in the world today. Their formation is not fully understood, though it is known that they formed by the chemical precipitation of iron from shallow seas about 1.8-1.6 billion years ago, during the Proterozoic Eon.Taconite is a silica-rich iron ore that is considered to be a low-grade deposit. However, the iron-rich components of such deposits can be processed to produce a concentrate that is about 65% iron, which means that some of the most important iron ore deposits around the world were derived from taconite. Taconite is mined in the United States, Canada, and China.Iron is essential to animal life and necessary for the health of plants. The human body is 0.006% iron, the majority of which is in the blood. Blood cells rich in iron carry oxygen from the lungs to all parts of the body. Lack of iron also lowers a person’s resistance to infection.

NameThe name iron is from an Old English word isaern which itself can be traced back to a Celtic word, isarnon. In time, the "s" was dropped from usage.

SourcesIt is estimated that worldwide there are 800 billion tons of iron ore resources, containing more than 230 billion tons of iron. It is estimated that the United States has 110 billion tons of iron ore representing 27 billion tons of iron. Among the largest iron ore producing nations are Russia, Brazil, China, Australia, India and the USA. In the United States, great deposits are found in the Lake Superior region. Worldwide, 50 countries produce iron ore, but 96% of this ore is produced by only 15 of those countries.Iron ore is the raw material used to make pig iron, which is one of the main raw materials to make steel. Due to the lower cost of foreign-made steel and steel products, the steel industry in the United States has had difficult economic times in recent years as more and more steel is imported. Canada provides about half of the U.S. imports, Brazil about 30%, and lesser amounts from Venezuela and Australia. 99% of steel exported from the USA was sent to Canada.

UsesIn the United States, almost all of the iron ore that is mined is used for making steel. The same is true throughout the world. Raw iron by itself is not as strong and hard as needed for construction and other purposes. So, the raw iron is alloyed with a variety of elements (such as tungsten, manganese, nickel, vanadium, chromium) to strengthen and harden it, making useful steel for construction, automobiles, and other forms of transportation such as trucks, trains and train tracks.

While the other uses for iron ore and iron are only a very small amount of the consumption, they provide excellent examples of the ingenuity and the multitude of uses that man can create from our natural resources.

Substitutes and Alternative SourcesThough there is no substitute for iron, iron ores are not the only materials from which iron and steel products are made. Very little scrap iron is recycled, but large quantities of scrap steel are recycled. Steel's overall recycling rate of more than 67% is far higher than that of any other recycled material, capturing more than 1-1/4 times as much tonnage as all other materials combined.

Some steel is produced from the recycling of scrap iron, though the total amount is considered to be insignificant now. If the economy of steel production and consumption changes, it may become more cost-effective to recycle iron than to produce new from raw ore.Iron and steel face continual competition with lighter materials in the motor vehicle industry; from aluminum, concrete, and wood in construction uses; and from aluminum, glass, paper, and plastics for containers.

In 1936 Dutch geologist Jean-Jacquez Dozy visited Indonesia to scale Jayawijaya Mountain glacier in the Irian Jaya province in western Papua. While there, he made notes of a peculiar black rock with greenishcoloring, and spent several weeks estimating the extent of the gold and copper deposits. In 1939, he filed a report about the Ertsberg (Dutch for "ore mountain"). He was working for Nederlandsche Nieuw Guinea Petroleum Maatschappij (NNGPM), an exploration company formed by Shell in 1935, with 40% Standard Vacuum Oil (Mobil) interest and 20% Far Pacific investments (Chevron subsidiary).

In March 1959 the New York Times published an article's revealing the Dutch were searching for the mountain source of alluvial gold which had been flowing into the Arafura Sea. Geologist Forbes Wilson, working for the Freeport mining company in August 1959 after reading Dozy's 1936 report, immediately prepared to explore the Ertsberg site. In 1960 the expedition, led by Forbes Wilson and Del Flint, confirmed the huge copper deposits at the Ertsberg. It was financed by Freeport Sulphur. At the time the company was implicated in a nickel stockpiling scandal under investigation in the US Senate by John F. Kennedy.[citation needed]. Its directors included Godfrey Rockefeller, Texaco chairman Augustus Long, and Robert Lovett.

With permission from the Indonesian government (though West Papua was not part of the Republic of Indonesia at the time), Freeport built the Ertsberg mine at 4,500 metres (14,000 ft) above sea level. It officially opened in 1973 (although the first ore shipment was in December 1972), and was expanded by Ertsberg East, which opened in 1981.

Steep aerial tramways are used to transport equipment and people. Ore is dropped 600 metres (2,000 ft) from the mine, concentrated and mixed with water to form a 60:40 slurry. The slurry is then pumped through pipelines to the port at Amamapare, dried and shipped. Each tonne of dry concentrate contains 317 kilograms of copper, 30 grams of gold and 30 grams of silver.

In 1977 the rebel group Free Papua Movement attacked the mine. The group dynamited the main slurry pipe, which caused tens of millions of dollars in damage, and attacked the mine facilities. The Indonesian military reacted harshly, killing at least 800 people [2].

By the mid-1980s, the original mine had been largely depleted. Freeport explored for other deposits in the area. In 1988, Freeport identified reserves valued at $40 billion at Grasberg (Dutch, "Grass Mountain", just three kilometres (two miles) from the Ertsberg mine. The winding road to Grasberg, the H.E.A.T. (Heavy Equipment Access Trail), was estimated to require $12 million to $15 million to be built. An Indonesian road-builder who had contributed to the Ertsberg road took a bulldozer and drove it downhill sketching the path. The road cost just $2 million when completed.

The 2003-2006 boom in copper prices increased the profitability of the mine. The extra consumption of copper for Asian electrical infrastructure overwhelmed copper supply and caused prices to increase from around $1500/ton to $8100/ton ($0.70/lb to $4.00/lb).